


we have not touched the stars

by just_nat



Category: Once Upon a Time (In Space) - The Mechanisms (Album), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, First Meetings, Fluff, Romance, it's not canon verse but its not any specific au, just 2k of Rose & Cinders being cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29983485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_nat/pseuds/just_nat
Summary: Cinders fell in love with Rose the first time she saw her. It’s cliché, and Rose scoffs fondly while rolling her eyes whenever Cinders brings the subject up, but it’s true.
Relationships: Cinders/Rose (Once Upon A Time In Space)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7
Collections: Mechs Album Week





	we have not touched the stars

**Author's Note:**

> just wanted to write abt them at a fancy ball okay this is pure fluff

Cinders fell in love with Rose the first time she saw her. It’s cliché, and Rose scoffs fondly while rolling her eyes whenever Cinders brings the subject up, but it’s true. Rose’s short shock of scarlet hair had caught her eye from across the ballroom and Cinders had felt a spark jump to life in her chest. 

The ball had been her fathers idea, an attempt to bolster the spirit of the rebellion and a way to celebrate the soldiers who were out fighting. Cinders had spent most of the evening leaned up a wall near the outskirts of the room sipping a glass of wine and occasionally reaching up to tug strands of her long blond hair free from the fancy up-do it had been styled into. 

She had been idly looking over the crowd when her eyes caught on Rose in her formal military wear, laughing at something the woman next to her had said, and time seemed to bend around the moment as Cinders watched. 

Then just as soon as the moment started, it stopped. Cinders hastily looked away from Rose and dropped her gaze to the glass of wine in her hand, blushing faintly. 

She took another sip to distract herself. She wanted to go over there, just to be near Rose and admire her from beside her rather than across the room, but she couldn’t. Rose didn't even know who she was! 

The only reason  _ Cinders  _ knew Rose was because  _ everybody  _ knew Rose. Commander of the army and the most fierce fighter in it, she had fought her way through a thousand battlegrounds and her name was on everybody's lips when they talked about the war. 

When her father told her Rose was coming to the ball, Cinders had felt as if she was going to faint. She'd hoped to talk to her, even just once but the hero of the rebellion was in high demand and Cinders was left pining on the side. 

This was probably her only chance to talk to Rose, and she was going to lose it. The clock was nearing midnight already, and guests were supposed to start leaving then. 

Cinders went to take another sip of wine, only to realize her glass was empty. Great. 

Sighing, she skirted the edges of the crowd and made her way back towards the kitchen. There was waitstaff mingling with the guests but Cinders had no desire to get crushed by the mass of people just for a drink. 

Even in her heels she barely cleared 5 feet which made navigating through crowds a difficult task. So instead, she slipped into the kitchen and poured herself a fresh glass of wine. 

As an afterthought, Cinders stuck the bottle under her arm and took it with her. Ungraceful, and certainly not fitting for the host's daughter but it was more efficient than sneaking back into the kitchen for refills or trying her luck with the crowd. 

On the way back to her spot on the wall, Cinders let herself daydream about how she would start up a conversation with Rose. 

Maybe she could fake a stumble in front of her, trip in a way that led to Rose catching her. The thought of being held in Rose's strong arms was certainly appealing and Cinders swooned mentally. 

Rose would catch her and ask if she was alright with that slight rasp in her voice that made Cinders' heart do flips in her chest. She'd let her go after that, but her hands would linger on Cinders' arms and Cinders would turn to meet Rose's dark eyes and-

Caught up in her fantasy as she was, Cinders didn't notice the women in front of her until she nearly walked into her. 

"Ah-" She gasps, almost dropping the bottle tucked under her arm as she flails backwards in an attempt to keep her balance. 

"Sorry!" Cinders says quickly, looking up at the women. "Wasn't looking where I was going." 

Instead of looking annoyed or just indifferent towards Cinders however, the woman seems almost… relieved? 

"Good, I found you. Come with me!" And without warning, the woman grabs Cinders by the arm and starts dragging her with. 

Cinders yelps in surprise and tries to dig her heels in, to no avail. The mysterious woman is deceptively strong, and continues to drag Cinders along. 

"Who  _ are  _ you??" She cries. "What are you even doing!" 

This gets the woman to stop, and look over her shoulder at Cinders. 

"I'm Snow. You can think of me as…" she pauses for a moment and then suddenly smirks. "You can think of me as your fairy godmother!" 

Cinders stares. "That doesn't explain anything!" 

"I know!" Snow laughs, and continues to pull Cinders through the crowd towards the garden doors. 

At this point Cinders found her curiosity at what Snow could possibly want with her outweighed any desire to get back to moping, and she hurried to try and catch up with Snow so she wasn't being dragged anymore. 

Snow moved with purpose, navigating the throngs of people with ease until she reached the doors leading to the gardens. Not slowing down, she pulled the doors open with one hand and tugged at Cinders insistently with the other. 

No sooner were they both through the doors did Snow finally let go of Cinders. 

"Are you going to tell me what this is about now?" Cinders hissed, immediately whipping around to face Snow.

Instead of answering her Snow hummed and looked around the garden with a satisfied smile. 

At this point, Cinders was about ready to snap. She considered herself a patient person but somehow Snow had managed to reach the ends of her patience and beyond in the short time Cinders had known her. 

Just as Cinders opened her mouth to start yelling, the clock from inside chimed midnight and Snow immediately brightened. 

"Right!" She says, clapping her hands together. "That's my cue. I'll take that," she continues, grabbing the bottle of wine out of Cinders' confused grasp, "and you go that way."

Snow gives Cinders a push in the direction of the rose bushes and then disappears back inside. 

Cinders stumbles forward with the push and then, because she thought her night couldn't get any worse, trips. 

The gardens are pretty, but they aren't maintained the way they were when her mother was alive and Cinders isn't exactly wearing the right shoes to be outside anyways. 

So when Snow pushes her it's just Cinders' luck that her foot catches on a loose stone and she falls. 

She closes her eyes, bracing to hit the ground, only to suddenly find herself caught in a strong pair of arms. 

For a second, Cinders just stays still, stunned by the near miss. 

She opens her eyes to find herself chest level with somebody in military dress. Then, her eyes travel upwards and it's  _ Rose.  _

Rose, who has a light blush and a concerned expression on her face. Cinders feels her ears start to burn as a blush begins to cover her entire face. 

"Are you alright?" Rose asks, and  _ oh  _ the rasp in her voice is even more pronounced in person than it is on the few news clips Cinders has watched and rewatched until she could quote them from memory. 

"I saw my sister push you," Rose says, "I  _ told  _ her not to be a prick about this but-" 

Cinders latches onto the first part, forgetting her nervousness for a moment. 

"Sorry, your  _ sister _ ? Snow is your  _ sister _ ?" Cinders cuts in. 

"...Yes?" Rose looks down at Cinders in confusion. "Look she hasn't been too bad, has she? She's been so insufferably smug since I asked for her help with talking to you and she can get so caught up in herself sometimes-"

As Rose rambles, she continues holding onto Cinders, as if letting go simply hadn't crossed her mind. Her palms are rough with calluses and her grip on Cinders' arms is firm but gentle, as if to keep Cinders grounded. 

It's then that Cinders registers her missing shoe. She'd been too caught up in Rose to notice before, but her shoe must have come loose when she tripped. 

Great. 

So not only had Cinders tripped and made a fool of herself in front of the woman she had a crush on, she'd also managed to lose one of her shoes. 

She just couldn't win. 

Even so, Rose was holding her still, which was nice. 

...She should maybe try and pay attention to what Rose was talking about. 

Cinders squared her shoulders and tried to turn her focus back to Rose. 

Rose was staring at Cinders as if waiting for a response, and Cinders mentally cursed. What had Rose been talking about again? Something about a sister, and a plan. 

"Uhhh," Cinders said, and immediately wanted to smack herself. Amazing. Very eloquent. If only her tutors could see her now! An entire childhood of being taught how to verbally run circles around people and the best she could manage was "uhhhh''.

Taking pity on Cinders' obvious confusion, Rose grins down at her. 

"You weren't listening were you." She says with a fond tone, and Cinders flushes. 

"I was!" She protests, "I just, got distracted is all."

Rose smirks, and Cinders feels her blush deepen. 

"You were talking about your sister, Snow," Cinders says, grasping for composure. "and how you staged this whole elaborate set up just so you could talk to me."

Now Rose begins to blush as well. 

"I wanted to talk to you privately, and knew that it would be hard for me to get away from everybody." Rose says, looking Cinders in the eyes. 

Cinders swallows. 

"Why me?" she asks softly, staring at Rose. 

Rose reaches down and tucks a stray hair behind Cinders' ear. 

"Because I think you're beautiful. And I know we haven't really talked properly but I've seen the way you fight with the warmongering old fools who come into court." Rose laughs softly. "I mean, Snow would go on for days afterwards whenever you ripped apart a particularly stupid one." 

As Rose let her hand fall away from Cinders' face, Cinders reached up to grab it and held it between them. 

"I've seen you too. I've never been near the battlefields but I've seen you fight in the army film reels. You're unstoppable with that battle axe of yours." Cinders looked away from Rose, suddenly embarrassed. 

The rebellion filmed short recruitment ads sometimes, and copies were often sent to Cinders' father because of his position. Not all of them featured Rose, but Cinders had snuck into her fathers office to take the ones that did for.. private viewings. 

"Hey, Cinders?" Rose says, and Cinders looks back towards her. 

Rose was holding out a rose with a smile playing at her lips despite the light blush still dusted across her cheeks. 

Cinders stared at her, fighting her own smile. 

"Really?" She says, amused despite herself. 

"Really." Rose responds, a wide grin breaking across her face. 

With a sudden rush of bravery, Cinders steps closer to Rose until there's nearly no space left between them, tilting her head up to look at her. 

"Will you put it in my hair?" Cinders says, heart pounding. 

Rose's grin turns to something a little more shy.

"I.. yeah. Yeah, I can do that." Rose breathes, and reaches towards Cinders again, with a slightly shaky hand. 

Rose leans down to place the flower in her hair and Cinders leans upwards on her tip-toes and closes the distance between them as from inside, the clock begins to chime midnight. 

**Author's Note:**

> lesbians.... so glad nothing bad happened to them


End file.
